Collision
by Hiveshade
Summary: Arriving on Remnant with no explanation. Learning to fight. For a unwilling dimensional traveller this could be a great adventure, or a fast track to an early grave. Fighting Grimm is a challenge. But are they the worst enemy to face? Due to language, violence and themes, rated M for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. This is my first attemp at a story and I'd like to make a few points first:**

**First: This not ****_exactly_**** a SI. The character is from Earth and is somewhat based on me, but is more an OC than anything else.**

**Second: I have a good idea where I'm going with this and I hope it will be different enough to be interesting...eventually.**

**Third: I have left some details about the character out of this chapter for now in an attempt to avoid a big exposition dump now. They will come up later.**

**Ok, **

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own anything from RWBY. I wish I was that creative. It all belongs to Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth. I guess I have some claim to my OC's.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

_I was panting from exhaustion, my back aching, squinting past the blood dripping down to my left eye from a cut on my forehead. Alarms blaring everywhere, punctured with the occasional sound of gunfire._

_A year of practise and a lot of luck is the only reason I'm alive right now, although the current situation doesn't leave me with much hope that will last._

_Emergency lighting gives the corridor a red glow as I move along it. I don't meet anyone else._

_We weren't prepared for this! This is a small facility, the guards aren't as good as in others! We aren't experts! We weren't supposed to be important enough to be worth attacking!_

_There's a window up ahead, looks into an office, but the door is in a hall on the other side…There's someone there!_

_I almost rush up to see before remembering that not everyone in the facility is friendly right now. I sneak up to the edge of the glass and look in. I sigh in relief, another employee, a regular worker, he looks scared and I don't blame him._

_I'm about to step in front of the glass...and then something hit the door, hard._

_The poor guy turns to the door just in time to see it burst open._

_I'm frozen in shock and horror as the Beowolf leaps on him…_

* * *

I woke up with a gasp.

Nightmares aren't uncommon for me these days, but thankfully they don't happen too often, and they're getting rarer.

I got up and just sat for a while, just trying to follow the chain of events that brought me here. Then I got up and started getting ready.

The face in the mirror hasn't changed much at first glance. Blue eyes, short dark hair. But I guess I'm a bit thinner. I'm definitely stronger.

Today was a big day, I never actually expected this to happen. I'm still surprised this is happening.

About a year ago, when I was sixteen, I arrived here on Remnant, I don't know how it happened. I didn't wake up on a plane to Beacon, there was no one saying they brought me here, no explanation.

I've read stories about characters that wake up on different worlds, but they are usually brought by someone, or they had resources. I woke up in an alley. No usable money or identification, no record of my existence, nowhere to stay.

It didn't take me long to realise where I was, it was night and the moon was a dead giveaway. When I realised where I was…I had no idea what to do. Whatever event brought me here did not include the necessary skills to become a hunter…or indeed any information or resources but the clothes on my back.

I went to the first police station I could find, what else could I do? At least while remaining on the right side of the law. No ID, no records, no home, trying to explain my situation (without going into the whole "other world" thing, which would make me sound crazy) was not fun. They ran my prints just to be sure, nothing again.

Fortunately for me it was fairly obvious that I didn't know what to do, hell I was just short of panic, so they called up someone who could help. Nobody fancy, just an agency that could help me find work. They gave me a few tests so I was able to prove I an education, but the lack of records keeps things complicated. In the end they found a job, didn't require much qualification.

The job was as a guard for a small facility owned by the Schnee Company. Not a large facility, more a refuelling station along the rail tracks, not too far from the city. No big cargo stored, no really important personnel. Honestly it was more a training facility than anything else, somewhere new employees could get started before moving on when they were more experienced.

Small (comparatively anyway), not important, not many Grimm attacks, and if they do attack there aren't any big ones like Death Stalkers or Nevermores.

Interesting fact, defending against Grimm from a fortified position is much different from fighting them up close. With walls and plenty of guns it's not difficult to take down groups of Beowolves or Ursa.

Spent almost a year there, a year training, getting stronger. I researched information on Aura and how to activate it. In practice this meant finding someone who knew more about it and paying them to help. Of course that only took me so far. I needed to learn more about it myself from there.

I admit, I was still interested in being a hunter, being a monster slayer, being a hero. But Beacon seemed out of reach. Beacon is a school for the best, the idea that they would accept a nobody without any records and only a year of training was laughable at best.

Then…..

…The idea was that we were too small to be a target. That we wouldn't have anything worth hitting. That we weren't important enough to be really noticed…

But apparently we were wrong…

* * *

It happened during a Grimm attack, a pack of Beowolves. But then the explosions started, and suddenly we weren't just being attacked by Grimm.

Not that we really noticed at first. We were more concerned with the holes in our defence that the Grimm could get through, so we moved to that. That we were under attack from a third force only truly registered when shots hit us from behind.

It was a brilliant plan really. Wait till we're distracted, make the situation worse, and then hit us hard with forces they'd snuck in. With that happening they could bring in more while everyone was distracted on the other end of the facility. Apparently the White Fang had been fighting smarter recently.

The fight didn't end well for us.

* * *

One thing I could say though, the fear of imminent painful death really motivates a person. After everything that happened…It gave me the final push to fully unlock my Aura.

When it was all over I came out with a fully activated Aura, a fair idea of what my semblance was, some more "intense" Grimm kills…and scars on my back and my front. I also gained a new perspective, at first I was interested in being a hunter because it seemed exciting, interesting and worthwhile. Now? I still think it's worthwhile…but now that's more because I've seen firsthand what happens when Grimm win.

After that I just quit. I went back to that agency that got me the job and said I was interested in being a hunter. I may not have learned from an actual combat school but I had some experience, and given that we encountered Grimm on a semi-regular basis I had a bit of practical knowledge about them. Beacon still seemed out of reach, but while it's definitely the best, it's not the only place to learn.

But when trying to figure out where I wanted to go I decided to just send of applications out and see who'd have me.

It turned out an application was sent to Beacon as well. But I only learned this when I received a message saying I'd been accepted. To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. I'm still surprised.

* * *

So here I am. A bag packed with my few possessions. I'm standing in line to get on the airship to Beacon.

I admit, while I'm excited, I'm not exactly confident. Is what I know enough? Did I learn enough? Will I be good enough?

I know the whole purpose of the academy is to learn, but Beacon is for the best…

No point dwelling on it now. I'm here and this is my course, all that's left is to give it my best.

I reach the counter at the front of the line. "Name?"

"Samuel Drake"

Here goes.

* * *

**Alright.**

**Like I mentioned earlier I've left some details regarding Sam out of this chapter (semblance, weapon, ect). I'm introducing them later to try and avoid an awkward exposition dump this chapter.**

**Constructive criticism is welcome and I hope you enjoy the story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi. This chapter was harder to write than I thought.**

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or anything else I may reference. I have some claim to my OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The view from the airship is spectacular. I can certainly appreciate that, even if I don't recognize any landmarks. I may sound strange but since I spent most of my time at the facility training, working or sleeping (guards had quartes there) I rarely went into the city itself, and even then not for very long.

My full reflection stared back at me from the glass. Short black hair, blue eyes, a thin frame that would be better described as wiry than muscled, strength is not my…strength, so to speak.

I tried going for practical with my outfit. Long sleeve shirt with a camouflage pattern, long pants with plenty of pockets and the same pattern as the shirt, black combat boots. I also had on a light armour vest over the shirt, again with a camouflage pattern, my Aura may be my main defence but a bit of extra protection could mean the difference between a wound and death.

I also have a scarf (camouflage pattern), it's pulled down now but I can pull it up to cover the lower half of my face….I admit I have the scarf because I think it looks cool.

One may notice a trend with the camouflage pattern. I don't think that it would help if a Grimm _really_ wanted to find me (or in a place with less green like Forever Fall) but it should help. It would help with stealth a lot more than what some of the others around me are wearing I'll say that.

…And I think the camouflage pattern looks badass…

I've got my weapon folded up on my back, extra ammo, and a combat knife just in case. I also have a grappling hook. My one regret is that I couldn't get any flash bangs, Grimm still need to see and hear so they could have been useful.

I've been trying my best to be prepared, to do research on the Grimm and think up plans. I'm not as strong as most, okay maybe all, of the others here so I pretty much _have_ to try and fight smart.

Yet I still feel like I've forgotten something…

Anyway...

Thus far I have yet to see anyone I would recognize. This isn't a complete surprise as there are several airships heading to Beacon.

Although come to think of it I haven't really paid much attention to current events. Hell there never was a timeline for the events before the series. So for all I know I could be heading to Beacon before or after…

_"__The robbery was lead by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick…"_

…Never mind, they're on a different airship. Thank you news report.

I just tune the rest of it out, I don't need to hear that speech from Goodwitch and I _definitely_ don't need to hear about the White Fang disrupting that protest.

God, the White Fang…

Having been employed at the facility, which was owned by the Schnee Company. I know for a fact that the concept of the company being at war with the White Fang is _not_ an exaggeration. In fact, the number of attacks has increased over the past few months, maybe longer.

Things are escalating. The Schnee Company is losing money. Things are bad on that front.

"Attention. We are approaching Beacon and will be docking shortly..."

_Well Sam this is it. Soon you will be setting foot in the place you will be spending the next four years of your life. Try not to make a fool of yourself._

_…_

_…__Try not to make _too_ big a fool of yourself._

Soon enough the airship docked and everyone moved to the exit. I decided to hang back a bit. I don't do well in crowds, I like my personal space, and preferred to _not_ be in the middle of the excited rush. Soon I was out and took my first real look at my new home.

####

Beacon…is big.

…Well it _is_.

It occurs to me that there was probably a map in the information packet I got with my acceptance notice. But it would be in my bag, which will be brought from the ship later.

_Well done Sam, you try to put emphasis on planning, and you forget the bloody map. Great start, keep it up._

This reduces me to wandering aimlessly around the docking area. Well, it's not as though I can't think of anything to do next. Just listen for yelling…Or an explosion, either way.

"What are you, brain-dead? Dust! Fire, water, lightning, _energy_!..."

Yelling it is.

It doesn't take long to find them.

_Yep, that's Weiss, and there's Ruby_. _Which means…_

*ACHOO*

*BOOM*

I flinched at the explosion. I looked back…and something nailed me right between the eyes.

_…__Okay, time to take stock here. I'm lying on the ground, looking at the sky, and my head hurts…_

_What hit me?!_

I turned my head to the side.

_Ohhhh, that's the bottle Weiss was holding. The one that flew out of the explosion…_

_…__I feel dizzy._

After a moment I heard footsteps.

"Are you okay?"

I turned to look at the speaker. Dark hair, book, bow. Yep that's Blake.

"Ugh, not sure, could you hold up a few fingers?"

She did so. "Three?"

"Yeah"

"Okay then. I think I'm fine…apart from my head hurting…and the loss of my dignity."

"Okay." There may have been some amusement in her voice there. I suppose I might find it funny if it didn't happen to me.

I sat up, slowly due to my aching head. Blake meanwhile picked up the bottle and headed towards ground zero.

_*sigh* Well…I suppose I could have made a worse first impression. Just not without actually trying._

I stood up, a moment's pause determined that the dizziness was gone, and made my own way to…the aftermath apparently, Blake and Weiss had just walked off. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't give my opinion about the explosion (and the cause thereof), but on the other hand my head is still aching and I want to give it a chance to ease up before any potential yelling.

But it seems that I am just in time for Jaune to arrive.

"Hey. I'm Jaune."

"Ruby"

"…Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

Well. No time like the present. I walked up.

"Hi. I'm Sam"

####

"All I'm saying is motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!"

Honestly, I can sympathise with that. "Yeah, I get that. I get seasick." Ugh, I hate that.

"Look, I'm sorry Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby said.

"Oh yeah? Well what if I call you Crater Face?"

"Hey, that explosion was an accident!"

Might as well speak up here. "I arrived just in time for that, how did it happen?"

"Uh, well I tripped over that girls luggage and then she got really mad and started yelling at me, then she was waving a bottle around and dust got in the air and then I sneezed and…well…" She really doesn't like thinking about that incident.

"Ah. Well…"

"Wait, if you were there for the explosion, why didn't we see you sooner?" Ruby interrupted.

"Oh, uh…*sigh*…A bottle flew out of the explosion and nailed me between the eyes."

Ruby flinched at that. "Oh, sorry."

"Relax. Your sneeze set off the Dust, but you didn't put the Dust in the air. It's not your fault." Okay this is getting a little awkward. Time to change the subject. "Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah." I turned to Jaune. "Not Vomit Boy."

"Hey! It's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

"Do they?" Ruby seems sceptical, as am I.

"They will. Well, I hope they will. My mom always says that…eh, never mind."

Heh. They're two awkward dorks aren't they. I may fit in better than I thought.

Ruby broke the silence. "So, I got this." She pulls out the scythe and slams the tip into the ground. Wow, seeing it in person, that thing is cool.

Jaune is just as awestruck. "Woah! Is that a scythe?" I've always thought of Ruby described as 'Little Red Riding Hood as trained by the Grim Reaper'. That opinion has not changed.

"It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle." Ruby said, holding the scythe up.

"A…wha?"

"It's a gun as well." I supplied.

"Oh." He said. "That's cool!"

"So what about you two?"

Jaune went first. "Oh, uh. I got this sword."

"Ohhhh." Ruby really does like see new weapons doesn't she.

Jaune unfolded his shield. "Yeah, I got a shield too."

"So, what do they do?" Ruby asked. She touched the shield, at which point it snapped closed, then open again. This cycle repeated while Jaune fumble to get a grip on the shield. When he did he folded it again and put it away, the sword sheathe within.

"The shield gets smaller. So when I get tired of carrying it I can just…put it away." He said, seeming a bit embarrassed by the earlier fumbling.

"But, wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah it does." Jaune sounded a bit depressed.

"Actually, I don't think it's about weight. I think it's about space."

They both looked at me.

"I mean…A normal shield would have to be carried on your back, or you'd keep it on your arm. But this way you've got more space for…well a backpack or something. It still weighs the same but it's easier to carry."

I think Jaune looks a bit better. Ruby seems to agree. "I guess that makes sense. So, what about you Sam?"

_Right, my turn._ I take my weapon off my back and it unfolded. "Basically, it's an assault rifle with a bayonet." When it came to my weapon I decided to go for something less complicated. It looks a lot like an M16A4, with a blade like a combat knife extending about 25 cm past the end from below the barrel. It also has a camouflage pattern to go with my overall theme. "It can fire semi-auto, three round burst, or full-auto. There's also a scope." The scope flipped up and extended. It's not fancy, but it gets the job done.

"Cool, does it do anything else?"

"No. At one point I considered putting in an attachment that uses Fire Dust. The idea was to give shots an incendiary effect that I could switch on and off." I shrugged. "But in the end I decided to keep it simple." Ah what the hell. "This is my rifle, there are many like it, but this one is mine." I said with a smile.

"I guess that works. Heh, I guess I went a little overboard in making mine."

"Wait, you _made_ that?" Jaune asked.

"Of course. All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you guys make yours?" Ruby replied.

I went first. "Sort of. I had some help putting it together, but now I can take it apart and put it back together on my own. I need to maintain it."

"Mine's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune said.

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me. Well I like it. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." She turned to me. "And not every weapon needs to be fancy to be effective."

I nod and put my rifle away. It may be simple in comparison to some other weapons. But it's mine.

"You said they were your great-great-grandfathers? They must be really well made." I said to Jaune. Seriously, they're that old and are still effective weapons? That's impressive quality right there.

"Heh, yeah…"

There's a moment of silence.

"So why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard." Ruby said to Jaune.

"Eh, why not? My mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet'." Jaune replied.

I have to smile at his cheerful attitude.

"Hey where are we going?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, I dunno. I was following you." Jaune replied.

"Don't look at me. I'm a follower not a leader." I said.

And so it begins…

* * *

**I'm still not sure ho happy I am with this chapter. It went through a few rewrites.**

**Sams weapon based is on the M16A4 rifle. I decided to go with something comparatively simple for Sams weapon. He's going to be a decent shot, but close combat will be trickier for him. Also it seems like a weapon someone from Earth could use.**

**I'm trying to build a better reason for him to be at Beacon than 'reasons'. This is why he arrived a year before cannon. To build up his skills a bit.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or anything else I may reference. I have some claim to my OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

It took a bit of searching, but we found the main hall where the rest of the students were gathered. The place is crowded, students standing around talking, messing with scrolls. Heh, if not for the fact that everyone is armed you could mistake it for a normal school on Earth.

A voice called out over the crowd. "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" Yang Xiao Long, brawler, sister to Ruby, really high on my 'People Who Can Most Likely Reduce Me to a Smear on the Ground' list.

"Oh, I gotta go. I'll see you both after the ceremony." Ruby then proceeded to leave us and headed for her sister.

Jaune raised an arm. "Hey wait!" She was gone. He sighed. "Great. Where am I supposed to find another nice quirky girl to talk to?"

"…It's a mystery." I said with a smile. '_If only you knew.'_

He looked at me. "You leaving too?" The poor guy seemed pretty worried I would do just that.

…Leaving would be like kicking a puppy. I shrugged. "Nah."

"Thanks."

We both moved to find a place in the crowd.

It wasn't long after we stopped when…

"YOU!"

"Oh god it's happening again!"

Naturally this gained the attention of both of us…and just about everyone else in a small radius. They weren't exactly being quiet, and people do love a show. Especially a comedy.

I just sighed, shook my head, and turned to Jaune. "Hold on a moment, I'll be right back."

I started walking over. I stopped for a moment, and then I pulled my scarf up.

…It sure felt like I was headed into combat.

"You really want to start making things up to me?"

"Absolutely?"

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again."

"Hello." I walked up and…_Oh God_ Weiss has a scary glare. "I couldn't help but overhear…"

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"…You weren't exactly being quiet." I gestured around and several people gained the suspicious look of someone who has become rather suddenly interested in something else. "It wasn't hard to hear."

She actually seemed surprised at that, I guess she got a bit too focused.

"Anyway. Have you actually read that pamphlet yourself?"

"Excuse me?" Aaaand the glare is back.

"Because I used to work around Dust. There was an incident one day that seems rather like this. Dust in the air, leads to explosion. We all got a lecture on Dust safety, but between the one who sparked off the explosion and the one who got the Dust in the air in the first place, it was the latter who got yelled at." Weiss looked like she was about to start yelling at me. "Yeah, that incident stuck in my head because one of the other guys was breathing in when the explosion went off, he had to go to hospital because of burns on the inside of his throat." That left a bit wide eyed. "Food for thought."

I turned and left before there was any response.

I wasn't kidding about that accident. Dust is freaking dangerous if you're not careful.

I think that 'burns inside the throat' thing stunned them a little.

"Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde and scraggly over there."

…But if that display of sarcasm is any indicator I have to admit, she rallied magnificently.

Jaune seemed to perk up when he heard Weiss. Maybe I should try to save him some pain later.

"Um, Jaune. I'm fairly certain she was…"

"Eh-hem. I'll keep this brief"

Oh. Ozpins speech. I don't really remember much of this.

"You have travelled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Okay, standard motivational stuff…

"But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose, direction."

…

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

I just stood there, I barely heard Goodwitch speak. When she dismissed us, I just walked away.

####

The speech was still in my head that night.

_'__Wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction.'_

Those words describe me with far more accuracy than I'm comfortable admitting.

For the last year, since I arrived in Remnant, I've been working to be a Huntsman. I have to admit the idea appealed...

…The idea was all I had.

I arrived on Remnant, alone, no money no explanation, no possessions besides the clothes on my back. I was lucky things worked out with me getting work. Being a hunter seemed cool. But in my more depressed moments I've had to admit that it was because I was looking for a goal, something to shoot for, a purpose…

…A reason to exist.

Everything I knew was gone, never to come back.

I latched on to that goal, and for the next year it was, eat, sleep, work, train…

I sighed. This train of thought isn't unfamiliar, I've long since accepted that Remnant is my home now. Even if I did go back…I've been gone too long, and there would be questions that I just wouldn't be able to answer.

'Arrgh, I gotta get out of my head.'

I got ready to go to sleep. I just want this day to be over and the next to begin. I went into the ballroom…why does Beacon have a ballroom anyway? When the place was being designed did someone say, 'Hey? You know what this warrior training school needs? A place to hold fancy formal events!'. I don't see how it follows.

I was heading to my sleeping bag when a voice came from behind me.

"Hey Sam! Where've you been? You just disappeared after the ceremony."

Oh, Jaune.

"Yeah, sorry. I sort of got lost in my thoughts and needed time to get my head strai…Dear god, please tell me that's not a onesie."

"Huh?"

"OH NOT YOU AGAIN!"

The sound of familiar shouting drifted over the ballroom.

I sighed. Palm, meet face. I have a feeling you two will be meeting again over my time here.

I just stood there in that position for a moment.

"Fuck it, I'm going to bed. Don't wake me unless they pull out actual weapons…On second thought not even then. Goodnight."

####

Thankfully I managed to get through the rest of the night without further incident.

It's difficult to describe how I felt, it could be described as a mixture of excitement, several different kinds of fear, and a vague sense of disbelief that this was actually happening to me.

I went through the process of getting ready in deep thought for a while. Trying to plan out what I'd do in the forest. A somewhat futile effort since what would happen in the forest really wasn't something I could predict, but it made me feel better.

…Although I still have the feeling I'm forgetting something.

I drifted along until I'd got my breakfast (pancakes, yum) when…

"Hey Sam."

I looked up. I almost walked right by a table where Ruby, Yang and Jaune were sitting.

"Huh? Oh, morning Ruby, morning Jaune, morning…" _'Wait! I haven't officially met Yang yet!'_ "Uhh, sorry I don't think…"

Ruby seemed to realise what I was about to say. "Oh, right. Yang this is Sam, Sam this is my sister Yang."

"Hi." I held out my hand, she shook it. "Hey."

…Well they can't all be great introductions.

"So Sam, Jaune said you disappeared for a bit yesterday." Ruby spoke up.

"…Yeah…Ozpins speech made me think a bit and, well…it's complicated. I'd rather leave it at that for now."

She dropped the subject. Things were fine after that. I'm not a great conversationalist so I mostly just listened.

Soon enough breakfast was over and we went to the lockers.

I got all my equipment together. Rifle? Check. Knife? Check. Spare pistol? Check. Armour? Check. Grappling hook? Check.

I smile a bit. This one has retractable claws set to a remote on my belt for easy retrieval. A grappling hook is one of those things you don't think you need, until you're in a situation where you lament not having one. I've seen Freeman's Mind, a grappling hook could solve so many problems.

Case in point. My landing strategy.

Basically, when I get near the trees I throw the grappling hook. When it catches I let the rope slide through my hands, reduce my speed and turn my fall into a controlled swing. Or at least make the crash less painful.

I'm as ready as I think I can be.

…So why do I _still_ feel like I'm forgetting something.

* * *

**Arrrgh.**

**These introduction chapters kicked my ass.**

**I'm not really sure how good they are (probably not very), I just could not get it straight in my head.**

**Writers bock is a pain.**

**Minor thing, in chapter two I tried calling the facility Sam worked 'Telkan'. I thought it might be better than just saying 'the facility', but somehow it felt a bit worse to me so I edited the chapter a bit.**

**Anyway, with the intro over the forest begins and I hope my ideas should flow easier.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or anything else I may reference. I have some claim to my OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"AAAAHHHHOHSHIT"

*CRASH*

"Uggghh"

Well…I _had_ a landing strategy…

It started out well. Throw the grappling hook, use it to reduce my momentum. I had to let the rope play out a bit since just using it to stop me altogether could have popped my arms from their sockets. Unfortunately I failed to take friction into account. When I was letting the rope slip through my hands the friction burns that such an action causes made me let go in shock. I lost some speed, but it was still an uncontrolled crash.

…I don't think I'll be marked well for that.

Initially I decided against gloves as I thought they could reduce my dexterity a bit. I now understand the existence of fingerless combat gloves and will acquire some as soon as possible.

I managed to get to my feet, cursing myself (and a great many other things). I sighed. "Well…That could've gone better."

Okay, Ozpin said to go to the north end of the forest. I'm pretty sure the cliffs are at the southern part. My…landing left a small trail of broken greenery so I can see where I came from. Therefore I need to head in the opposite direction. Seems simple enough.

…If one fails to take the Grimm into account.

_'__Well, get moving or get eaten.'_ I drew my rifle and headed into the forest.

…

_'__Why do I _still_ feel like I've forgotten something!?'_

####

I'd been trekking through the forest for several minutes now, and I've encountered a whole lot of nothing. I suppose I shouldn't expect Grimm to be lurking behind every tree, but the lack of action coupled with the feeling of missing something (I cannot begin to describe how annoying that has become) just makes me want the other shoe to drop already and get it over with.

When I heard a twig snap to my left I spun around a levelled my rifle in that direction with speed that surprised even me.

"Shit! Calm down, I'm not an enemy!"

I let out a sigh of relief and lowered my rifle. Another Beacon student. "Sorry."

"S' Okay." The guy in front of me had brown spiky hair, cut short. Brown eyes as well. He had black cargo pants, a grey t-shirt, and metal vambraces, greaves, and chest armour (no pauldrons). He was also holding a battleaxe.

He started walking forward. "So, I guess we're partners." I nodded. He held out his hand. "Arthur Wallen."

I shook his hand. "Samuel Drake."

He smiled. "Good to meet you Sammy."

The smile was replaced with surprise when I grabbed the collar of his shirt.

I could feel my eyelid twitching. "Call me 'Sammy' again." I growled out. "I _dare_ you."

"…Don't like Sammy?"

"Correct."

"Have you had to explain this to others before?"

"Indeed."

"Did they mention that when you do you have murder eyes?"

"It may have come up before."

"Good to know. Sam it is then."

I let go. "Cool."

He smirked. "You _really_ don't like Sammy do you."

I grimaced. "Hate it."

He chuckled and rested his axe on his shoulder. "Anyway, you can call me Art."

I grinned a bit behind my scarf. "Alright…Art." As first impressions go…it could have been worse.

"We should probably get moving huh." Art said.

_'__Right.'_ "Yeah." I started walking.

"…Not the talkative sort are you?"

I shrugged. "I don't always know what to say."

He shrugged and we walked in silence for a while. Art was the one to break it.

"Sooo, you know where you're going."

"We're going to the north end of the forest, the cliffs were to the south so we just need to go in the opposite direction to our starting point."

"Fair enough, but do you still know which way is north after wandering around for a while?"

My brow furrowed in thought at that. It was possible that I had been turned around, there weren't any real landmarks now that I'd been walking a while. So how will I know if I'm heading nor…

My eyes widened and I stopped dead as realization hit me.

"FUCK! A COMPASS! THAT'S WHAT I FORGOT!"

####

"So let me get this straight, you tried to plan things out before coming to Beacon."

I can practically hear him smiling. "Yes Art."

"You got a grappling hook because you didn't want to be in a situation where you curse not having one."

"It's proving useful right now."

"You researched Grimm types like the Beowolf and Ursa."

"Know your enemy."

"You have a combat knife and a spare pistol in addition to your rifle."

"Yep."

"I'm guessing that you have some bandages on you, just in case."

"Good guess."

"It just seems to me that with all that the scenario 'what if I get lost' should have entered the equation somewhere, and since the compass is one of the most basic navigation tools…"

"Yes, I get it, I can't think of everything, now can we please change the subject."

"Alright. Why are you climbing a tree?"

A valid question I suppose. After swearing and cursing for a few moments after my realization, I'd got out my grappling hook, headed for the nearest tree, tossed the hook into the branches and started climbing.

I looked down at him. "Well, I figured that I could see any landmarks from up high. Even if I can't see any sign of the temple, I'll definitely see the cliffs, and from there we just head in the opposite direction to the cliffs."

He nodded. "Fair enough." I turned and started heading up again. "You sound really uptight you know that?"

I froze and looked at him again, an incredulous expression on my face (okay so my scarf cover half, but I think my widened eyes and raised eyebrows got the message across). "And you aren't taking this seriously? We're in a forest populated almost exclusively with things that want to kill us."

"I am, but I don't think it's as dangerous as you seem to think it is."

"…What?"

"Sam. Have you ever faced Grimm before today?"

"Yes."

He seemed surprised by the answer. "Really?"

"I worked at a facility outside Vale for about a year."

"Huh. Well, most of our fellow initiates come from combat schools…"

"Like Signal."

"Yeah. Now, how many of those students do you think have any real world experience with Grimm?"

That question really made me think, and then I remember something from the show.

_'__What was it Weiss said,_ 'This isn't you ordinary combat school, it's not just sparring and practise. We're here to fight monsters.' _'The implication being…'_ "None?"

"Most likely. There's might be some who have experience, maybe some from outside the kingdoms, but they would be the minority. For many here it's their first time facing actual Grimm. So tell me, do you really think the rookies would be sent to fight the really dangerous stuff on their first time fighting Grimm for real? We were told to cut down everything in our path or we'd die, but they don't actually want us to die. No. The purpose of this is to get the teams together and get us first blood against Grimm, if we haven't before today. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if the instructors went through the forest before and got rid of everything beyond a certain level of danger."

_'__Not everything Art.'_

"Point is Beowolves and Ursa are likely the worst we'll face. Dangerous? Yes. As bad as you seem to think? No."

On the one hand, I know a Deathstalker and a Nevermore will be around, and even if he's right about the instructors going through they can't be expected to get _everything_. On the other, his points make a lot of sense, you don't expect rookies to kill Deathstalkers on their first time out. Teams RWBY and JNPR are probably the exception rather than the rule.

"I find it difficult to fault your logic."

He got a cocky grin on his face. "Exactly. Now you should probably get back to climbing."

I sighed and turned my attention up.

####

I soon reached the top of the tree.

"What do you see!?" Art called.

"No glimpse of the temple. I know which way is opposite to the cliffs, but there's a hill over that way," I pointed. "We could get a better view from there."

"Great. That all?"

"Just trees, the occasional clearing." _'Wait'_ "…and a column of smoke."

"Smoke? Heh, did someone set fire to the forest?"

_'__Ruby and Weiss must be over there.'_ "Looks like."

"What? Really? Shit, that's bad."

I made my way back to the ground and we started moving, quickly.

"You think the fire could catch up to us." I said.

"Maybe, maybe not. I'm more concerned with the local wildlife running from the fire and coming our way."

Oh.

A few moments later his worries were confirmed as we heard the sound of howls behind us.

_'__Beowolves.'_

Art took a combat stance and I raised my rifle. A moment later a Beowolf burst out from the bushes, another followed soon after.

Art swung his axe as he dodged to the side, hitting the first Beowolf in the shoulder. It fell to the ground, tumbling forward from its own momentum. Meanwhile I sighted on the second. It had paused when its fellow was hit, it looked at me and roared.

*BANG*

As a ranged specialist I hope to one day be good enough to put a shot through a Grimms eye. I'm not that good yet, but putting a bullet through its open mouth is something I _can_ do. The Beowolf collapsed. Even if the bullet missed its spine it almost certainly tore up its throat enough to make it choke on its own blood.

More the damn wolves were appearing. I switched to burst fire and sighted on another one as Art finished off his with a cop to the head before it could get up.

I started firing at its head, hoping to get a hit on its throat or eyes. No such luck. It covered its face with a paw and took a wild swing at me. I was just a fraction too slow and it knocked me backwards off my feet.

I scrambled to one knee. I saw Art was busy fighting another Beowolf. The one I was fighting was heading for me, drawing its arm back to take another swing at me.

I switched to full-auto. When it swung I ducked, rose to my feet and stabbed the bayonet into its chest. Then I pulled the trigger. Point blank full-auto can do some serious damage, and a second later a few bullets burst out of its back.

I pulled out the blade as the Beowolf collapsed and turned to find another target…

Then a howl rang out and the rest of them ran off.

Art and I stood there panting for a moment.

I broke the silence. "Ow." I clutched at the side the Grimm hit me. Even though our Aura protects us from serious injury we still feel some impact. It likely wouldn't last long, but it still stung.

"Heh, I think that went pretty well." Art said.

"I guess."

"I don't quite get why they left though. I thought Grimm were pretty single minded in wanting to kill people."

"That howl was probably the Alpha. They tend to be a bit smarter than the average. Also I think they were surprised to see us. Probably more focused on running from the fire."

"Hmmm. I did see a bigger Beowolf before I fought the second one, which I would have killed if it hadn't run off, anyway the bigger one had a big gash on it, I think it was in a fight recently."

_'__What? Was that the pack Weiss and Ruby fought?'_ "Okay, so they're in a fight, the fire starts, they run from the fire, and while running they run into us and we take down three. They're probably confused with everything that's been happening to them and the Alpha called a retreat when they lost those three."

"Okay." He walked over to the one I shot earlier. "You took down two?"

"Yeah." I looked around to try and get my bearings.

*Thuk*

I turned around to see that Art had chopped of the Beowolfs head.

He shrugged. "It was twitching."

"…I but a bullet down its throat, it was choking on its own blood…It counts as mine."

He shrugged again, a smile on his face. "Sorry."

I sighed. "We should get moving."

We walked off.

After a minute or two Art spoke.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you still remember the way to the hill?"

"…Fuck."

I got out my grappling hook.

* * *

**I was right. This did come easier.**

**So, here I've introduced Arthur Wallen. I got his surname from a random name generator. Anyway, his axe looks like the Steel Battleaxe from Skyrim. Except, you know, more modern looking, with the hilt being metal rather than wood.**

**This is my first attempt writing a fight scene so I hope it came out alright.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or anything else I may reference. I have some claim to my OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The Emerald Forest is an interesting mix of nerve-wracking and dull. Nerve-wracking because I know there are plenty Grimm in here, and dull because in the time since encountering the Beowolf pack we've only encountered a lone Ursa.

Art insisted on taking it alone to 'even the score'…I knew I shouldn't have said 'counts as mine', it implied a competition.

Anyway, after walking for a while longer (with occasional tree climbing to check our bearings), I found myself descending a tree on the hill I spotted earlier.

"See anything?" Art called as I made my way down.

"There's a promising clearing in that direction." I said pointing. "I'm pretty sure I saw the top of a stone construction of some kind. I think we're nearly there."

He smirked. I swear that's his default expression. "And how many Grimm have we encountered?"

"Fine, I get it, you were right. Can we move on now?"

"Dude, you need to relax. I can see that's going to be an ongoing project for me." He finished this statement by giving me a 'pat' on the back that sent me stumbling forward several steps.

After regaining my balance I glared at him for a moment, and then started heading for the temple. "Can it wait until tomorrow?" I said irritably. "We may not be in _as much_ danger as I thought but I still want to get this done as soon asOOOFF…"

I was cut off when my partner tackled me to the ground and scrambled to the nearest bushes pulling me along.

"Art! What the fu-"

"Sshhh!" Art gestured frantically for quiet. He seemed rather wide eyed. He then pointed to the sky.

"_Nevermore_." He whispered.

I looked up. "Oh."

Nevermore. As far as the Grimm go, the Nevermore is easily the most feared. The bigger ones like this are capable of obscene amounts of damage if they really get going. They can use those feathers to aerially bombard a target, basically any vehicle large enough to do sufficient damage could get sliced to pieces.

Not something we want to fight.

"_Could it even hear us from up there?_" I whispered.

"_Do you really want to test that?_"

I took another look at the intimidating shape above us. "_Whispering it is._"…Hold on.

_'__Wait a minute, is this…'_

I unfolded my rifle and flipped up the scope.

"_What are you doing?_"

"_I'm just taking a look, I'm not crazy enough to shoot._"

I sighted on the Nevermore. _'Ah, I thought so.' _"I don't think that Nevermore is too concerned with what's on the ground."

I lowered my rifle handed it to Arthur. He took the rifle with some confusion, but he raised it and looked through the scope at the Nevermore. He spent a moment getting the view centred, and then froze.

"Sam?" He said in a low voice.

"Yeah?"

"Are there two people riding that Nevermore?"

"That _is_ what I saw."

"…Well…They clearly possess a great deal of courage and confidence in their skills…"

Ruby has more confidence in this than Weiss if I remember correctly.

"…or maybe they're just bat-shit bonkers…"

…

"…possibly both." He handed me my rifle back.

"That's…one way of looking at it." I looked at the Nevermore, it was past us now. "…Should we do something."

"Like what?"

"I dunno…They aren't exactly safe there. Even if the Nevermore doesn't get them" And I realise it won't. "They're really high up."

"…Sam, we were catapulted of a cliff into the forest. Why couldn't they use their landing strategy again?"

"I…don't know." That's actually a very good question. Ruby could slow her decent with her scythe and Weiss could use her glyphs…Why _was_ the fall such a big deal?

"As you've been saying, we need to get moving."

####

Once we got back among the trees we lost sight of the Nevermore.

We walked in silence for a minute. Arthur broke it.

"So you said we're nearly there?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we should be there in-"

"Hello!"

A new, clearly female, voice called out from the forest.

"Hey! I know you're there!"

Art replied. "Uh…Hello?"

There was the sound of someone heading towards us. Then a girl came out from the bushes. She was a bit shorter than us, probably of a similar height to Ruby. Grey eyes. Short hair, about to her shoulders and it was…dark blue?...Oh who am I kidding, there's people in this world with green hair so this is just par for the course.

She had grey pants, a blue t-shirt and some sort of brown leather vest. She had a sheath on her left hip, this being for the machete in her right hand. On her left hand she had a gauntlet, but this one had two gun barrels on it and seemed meant for shooting only.

Somewhat unsettlingly, there were quite a few splashes of blood on her, admittedly I wasn't one to talk as point blank full-auto into a Beowolf causes some splatter, but it is just unsettling when the person in question carries a machete.

"Ha! I knew you were here." She looked behind her. "Hey Danni! I told you I sensed someone!"

Sensed?

Speculation was cut off by the arrival of another girl. She was on the taller end of the spectrum, had brown eyes and platinum blonde hair in a ponytail at the back of her neck. She had a white duster coat, brown pants and a black shirt. She also had a pair of rather elaborate looking bracers, they were made out of grey metal and covered in flowing yellow lines, they each had a lightning bolt symbol on the top.

Her weapon though…was simpler than mine. It was basically a grey metal rod, about 6 feet long, which came to a point. It had yellow lines running down it and I was pretty sure it was collapsible, but the end was a conical point not a blade, and I had doubted it had any sort of gun mode.

She glared at her partner. "I wasn't questioning that they were here, I was asking _how_ you knew they were here."

"Um, I was curious about that myself actually." I chimed in.

She turned to us and smiled. "Sorry about that Harriet here is a bit…enthusiastic…" The other girl, Harriet, rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'm Daniela."

"But because that's a mouthful to say every time I just call her Dani. Anyway, as she said, I'm Harriet, call me Hari." Harriet spoke up with a grin.

Art raised an eyebrow. "Hari and Dani?" He said with his trademark smirk. He turned to me. "Is there a joke here? It feels like there should be but I just can't think of it."

I however was somewhat distracted by Harriet's grin. "Uh, looks like you've got something caught in your teeth there…is that…fur?"

Daniela's smile became rather forced. "She bit off a Beowolfs ear."

Art and I were so completely silent it nearly passed through into anti-noise. I glanced at Art, he still had that smirk on his face, but it had taken on that glassy quality that comes when someone doesn't know what expression to make and so goes with the one they already have.

Harriet's grin just got wider. I made a mental note to try not to piss her off.

I tried to get things back on track. "Um, so…How _did_ you know we were here?"

"It's my semblance." Harriet said. "It's a sort of area awareness, I can vaguely sense everything within a certain radius around me. I need to focus to sense details, but knowing people, or Grimm, are moving around is fairly easy."

Okay, now that's impressive.

"That's pretty useful." Art said. He looked like he thought it as impressive as I did.

Daniela seemed to perk up at that. "Yes, it does give us a great deal of utility. An early warning system gives plenty of time to prepare for a fight."

_'__Why is Harriet rolling her eyes?'_

"Of course I myself have a rather powerful ability."

I responded with some confusion. "Uh, that's cool but I don't think we asked…"

"She's going to tell you anyway." Harriet deadpanned.

"_My_ semblance is a natural affinity with lightning. I am quite skilled with projecting bolts and my bracers allow me to gather it easier. I can also channel it through my spear to electrocute anything that I my stab with it."

'Oh, that explains her weapon somewhat.'

"_Did we give the impression we wanted to hear this?_" Art whispered.

"_I don't see how._"

Daniela continued. "I can actually generate such voltage that I could hypothetically electrocute any Grimm."

After taking a moment to make sure she wasn't going to start up again I spoke up. "That's…actually pretty cool all things considered. But I couldn't help but notice the 'hypothetically' in there."

Her smile faltered somewhat. "Yes…well, I _could_ kill, for example, a Deathstalker, but the amount of power I use up would drain me considerably, so if there were any other Grimm around…But anyway I always keep some lightning dust on me to give me a recharge." She shifted uncomfortably, clearly unhappy at admitting this.

"Well, this _has_ been interesting, but I think we should probably keep moving."

_'__Thank you Art.' _"Agreed."

Harriet shrugged. "Sounds good.

"Yes, we're nearly at the temple so we shouldn't.."

"Nobody cares Dani."

_'__Thank you Harriet.'_

####

After a few minutes of walking the four of us saw the edge of a clearing up ahead. Through the gaps between the trees there was what looked like the top of the temple.

Art jogged ahead to the edge of the trees. "Finally, looks like we're he-_what the fuck_!"

The rest of us quickly ran to the edge of the trees. We were at the top of a hill looking down at the clearing, the temple stood in the centre, but that wasn't what drew our attention.

"Well…" I said. "Looks like we missed one hell of a party."

It was fairly obvious (at least to me) that we were a bit behind teams RWBY and JNPR. There were Nevermore feathers, we could see the gap in the trees where the Deathstalker had smashed its way through, there were tracks from the Deathstalker, and there were pieces of ice from where Weiss had frozen said Deathstalker.

I knew what had happened. But my travelling companions were wide eyed and slack jawed.

Art spoke up. "We certainly missed something." He started making his way towards the temple, the rest of us followed. "It looks like there was a Deathstalker and a Nevermore here."

"Likely at the same time." Daniela chimed in.

"There's no blood, so whoever they were fighting got away." I added.

"And the Grimm aren't here either so they probably chased them." Art said.

There was silence. _I_ knew that RWBY and JNPR could handle it, but they didn't.

Daniela broke the silence. "Okay, this is…worrying, but we can't do anything about it. We need to get the relics and get out of here."

We made our way to the ruins.

"Chess pieces? The relics are chess pieces?" Harriet said when we got there.

There were twenty pedestals. Two of each piece in each colour, pawn, rook, knight, bishop, king, and queen.

Art looked at them. "So we just pick one?"

I shrugged. "Guess so."

He turned around, then turned back holding up the black king, with his smirk back.

"…For some reason I'm not surprised you picked one of the kings." I deadpanned.

He shrugged. "Eh, why pretend."

I rolled my eyes.

"Uh, Dani, what are you doing?" That was Harriet.

Art and I looked at them. Daniela was holding Harriet back from the pieces while she stared at them thoughtfully.

Then she turned to us. "Hey, we told you guys about what we can do. How about returning the favour."

Art and I looked at each other, and then turned back to Daniela. I spoke up. "Uh, why now?"

"Just humour me."

Art shrugged. "Okay. I mostly do close combat, my axe is also a shotgun, and my semblance allows me to release short range concussive force. Either directed or as a shockwave."

_'__Close combat specialist. Cool. Maybe I should have asked about this myself.'_

"I feel like I should have asked earlier, sorry."

Art shrugged. "I didn't ask about yours, so it's no big deal."

"I didn't ask Dani about hers either, she just told me." Harriet deadpanned.

I let out a snort of amusement at that.

"And what about you Sam?" Daniela asked, completely ignoring Harriet.

"Well, I'm not sure how to explain it exactly, but I'm aware of trajectory or vectors…something like that. It means that I'm very good at judging where a shot will land. It takes a few moments to get details on really long range shots, but I'm getting faster. It also works with living movement to some extent, but that's more difficult due to constant changes. Give me time to line up a shot and I can hit from considerable range."

"So you could shoot a Grimm through the eye at long range?" Art asked.

I shook my head. "No. At least not yet. I'm getting more precise, but that's more of a long term goal."

It's a work in progress, but one day I may be able to completely blind a Deathstalker in less than 15 seconds. But like I said, that's a long term goal.

Daniela nodded, still looking thoughtful, and then smiled. She walked up to the pieces and selected…the white king.

'What? Did she figure it out?'

She turned to the rest of us. "Okay people, let's go." She walked off.

Art raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?"

"…I think the four of us are going to be on the same team." I replied.

"Huh?"

"Never-mind. Let's just go."

####

In comparison to finding the temple finding the way back was fairly easy, we just head towards the cliffs this time and that's a landmark that's difficult to miss. It was made even easier since all we really had to do was follow the trail of smashed trees left by the Deathstalker as it chased the soon-to-be teams RWBY and JNPR.

We must have been about halfway back when Harriet stopped us.

"Wait." Her face showed a look of concentration. "We've got company."

Then the howling started.

* * *

**I originally intended to show the fight in this chapter as well. But it was getting longer, I was haveing trouble with it and this seemed like as good a place as any to end the chapter.**

**So, here I've introduced the other members of the soon-to-be team.**

**Daniela Keller and Harriet Nall. Their last names came from a random name generator.**

**Their semblances were originally ideas I had for Sam, but in the end I gave him a weapon more Earth-like and a semblance that allows him to be effective with it.**

**Yes I did give him a semblance that could be summed up as 'Improbable Aiming Skills', but there are limitations. No ricochet trick shots, for example.**

**Next chapter should finish the initiation, reveal the team name, and hopefully start going into the team dynamics.**

**Bye.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Ruby or anything else I may reference. I have some claim to my OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The air was filled with howling for a moment. All of us stoped.

Beowolves. I _hate_ Beowolves. Not the toughest of Grimm, but according to what I've read about them since arriving on Remnant is any indication, underestimating them is a bad idea.

…I have scars that confirm that.

Daniela spoke up. "Harriet?"

"That way." She pointed back the way we came from. "There's…eleven of them. One of them is larger than the others."

I frowned. "An alpha. That's potentially…no, that _is_ a problem."

Art looked at me. "You said earlier that alphas tend to be smarter."

I was about to reply when Harriet interrupted. "Wait. Four of them just split off. They look like they're circling around."

"That's why they're a problem. Alphas aren't just tougher, they're smarter. They have a sort of base cunning. When a Beowolf pack is lead by an alpha they can use rudimentary strategy. Like say, surrounding us and having the ones behind us attacking after we've been engaged by the others."

Daniela frowned. "We should just go, we don't have to fight them."

"Not an option. They aren't as tough as say, an Ursa, but they are faster. We run they'll catch up."

Daniela was all business now. "Right. Might as well stand and fight here if it makes no difference. Harriet warned us about the ones circling behind us so we won't be taken by surprise. Harriet, what are they doing?"

Harriet looked confused. "They're just waiting."

Daniela turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

I thought for a moment. "We're upwind. They'll know their pack mates are ready when they can smell them too."

Daniela nodded and turned to Harriet. "The moment they move to attack you let us know. When the other four attack Arthur and I will focus on the rest while you and Sam take out the failed ambush. Take them out as fast as you can, then help us with the rest." She turned to me. "Sam, what happens if we take out the alpha?"

"Uh, I don't know for sure, but I assume that the rest of the pack will just attack. But without the alpha they'll be less coordinated."

She nodded. "Think you can make the shot?"

_'__Can I?'_

I swallowed nervously and nodded.

She nodded back. "Okay, Arthur and I are in front, you and Harri are behind us."

As plans got it's not complicated. But this isn't really a situation that required complicated.

After a moment Harriet spoke up. "The main group's moving."

It didn't take long for us to see them. As they got closer they started to sow down. The group of seven Beowolves stopped maybe 50 meters away. Front and centre of the group was the alpha, I'd been staring at it through my scope since we saw the group. On its chest was a noticeable gash.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Judging from Arts' muttered comment he noticed it too.

Vectors, trajectory, whatever it is I'm seeing, after a second or two I can practically see a line starting at the end of my rifle and ending on the alphas' head. There are several variable to consider when taking a shot, the line started out indistinct, and gets more 'solid' with each second.

I could have got a basic headshot by now, but I need to be sure it will die I don't know for sure how strong that bone mask is. Ideally I'd put a bullet right through the alphas' eye. But one sudden movement from it means I could miss. If the alpha doesn't die, the whole lot attacks with the added coordination the alpha brings.

Then the alpha raises its head and howls.

Perfect.

I squeeze the trigger once, twice.

Both shots slammed into the alphas' throat.

From there everything started moving quickly.

When the alpha collapsed choking, the other Beowolves broke out into snarls and growls. I took the opportunity to feed one of them a bullet, and then they charged.

I switched to full-auto, and all four of us focused on the lead Beowolf. Between me firing bursts, Daniela blasting lightning, Art firing shotgun blasts from the top of his axe, and Harriet firing her gauntlet (which aparantly has the fire rate of an SMG), the Beowolf practically exploded.

I was about to fire on another one when Harriet started yelling. "Behind!"

I spun around, the group of four was charging. Harriet was already firing on one and I joined her. With Art and Daniela focused on the main group it didn't go down as fast. When it did go down Daniela promptly charged the remaining three.

She ducked under the first strike and unleashed a flurry of strikes on the Beowolf, culminating in her slashing its throat, and then stabbing her machete through the bottom of its jaw into its brain, while firing her gauntlet at another one.

With a big grin on her face.

The third one came after me. I tried levelling my rifle on it, but it was too close I tried to avoid its strike, and I mostly succeeded. It hit my rifle. It didn't damage it and I still had a hold on it with my right hand on the trigger, but it would take me too long to bring it back up. I moved forward, ducked under the Beowolfs arm, and drew my combat knife with my left hand. I held the knife backhanded and slashed at its throat. I blinked as a spray of blood hit my face. The Beowolf collapsed.

A quick look showed that Harriet had finished off hers, so I turned back to Art and Daniela.

There were eleven Beowolves to start with, including the alpha. I killed the alpha and another Beowolf, the four of us ventilated a third, and then Harriet and I took down the four that circle behind. That left four to go.

When I turned to Daniela and Art there were only two left. Art let loose a concussive blast, stunning his. Then he slashed it across the chest, the axe swung round and rested along the back of his shoulders, and he fired a shotgun blast directly into the Beowolfs face. Its head exploded like an egg in a microwave.

Daniela meanwhile stunned hers with a bolt, and then she stabbed her spear into the Beowolf and proceeded to unleash lightning directly into it using her spear as a conductor. It died quickly.

The whole thing took two minutes.

Maximum.

We stood there in silence for a moment.

It was me that broke it. "So…is that it?"

Daniela answered. "Looks like. Harriet?"

"That's it, they're all gone."

"Oh…It just feels…anticlimactic somehow." I said.

"Well, that's how it can be. We were prepared, they attacked, and we won. It could have been worse. If the alpha hadn't been taken out quickly, if it had given the rest of the pack some coordination, it could have been harder. If Harriet hadn't known about the four circling around, if they'd hit us from behind, it could have been so much worse. As it was, we had warning, and we had a plan. Anyway, climactic fights tend to end with more injury, so I'll take this and be happy with it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Yep, we are awesome." Art chimed in, his smirk back. "We should get going, don't want to be late."

Daniela straightened up. "Alright everyone, let's go."

* * *

It had been a while since the fight.

We'd walked in silence for a while until Daniela decided to start questioning Art about just what he was capable of. Then she started brainstorming.

"So would it be possible to use concussive blasts for propulsion. Like blasting forward, or for extra height in a jump?"

"Uh, I don't know, I've never tried before." Art, for his part, just seemed like he was trying to keep up with the rapid suggestions.

"We'll have to test that. What about concentrating the force into a smaller area…"

"Did she do something like this to you?" I asked Harriet.

She nodded. "Yep. She has some good ideas, and I'd be happy to test them out later. But the problem is she doesn't seem to care if you want her to shut up _now_."

"Right, so she'll probably start on me in a moment, I suppose."

Daniela seemed to overhear. "Oh I have plenty of ideas for yours, I'll probably need more time to fully consider the implications though."

I didn't like the sound of that.

"Besides, we're nearly out of the forest, it can wait until later."

She turned back to Art but he interrupted. "Wait…do you hear that?"

We all stoped and listened. We heard the unmistakable sounds of combat in the distance up ahead.

We exchanged a glance, and ran towards the noise.

We didn't have to go far before we came out the edge of the trees… and promptly stopped dead.

Apparently we'd reached the edge of the forest just in time to see Ruby drag the Nevermore all the way up the cliff, immediately followed by its decapitation.

The others were wide eyed and slack jawed, and so was I.

I saw it in the show…But seeing it in person, even from a distance…

"Holy shit."

_'__Got that right Harriet.'_ "Yeah."


	7. Chapter 7

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Ruby or anything else I may reference. I have some claim to my OCs.**

**Okay. This chapter took way longer than I thought it would. I'm not sure how well it turned out.**

**Before beginning I just want to say thanks to Presbydos for the fics first review, and reply to questions:**

**In regards to Sam carrying a lot of weapons. He's carrying a primary weapon, a sidearm, and a knife. If one were to use a soldier as an example, then this would probably be standard equipment. The only piece of 'non-standard' equipment would be his grappling hook, and that probably wouldn't take up too musch more space. I guess it sounds like a lot, but I don't think it's all that much more.**

**In regards to modifying the rifle into a transformable melee weapon. Since the rifle has a bayonet, it technically is a short spear already. The purpose of using a rifle with a bayonet is that it is always in melee mode and always in gun mode. It is primarily a ranged weapon, but is meant to fill both roles simultaneously.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

The initiation was over. Once we reached the top of the cliffs we were met by one of the professors, not one I recognized, who informed us that we four were going to be on the same team. I suppose it makes sense that we were told now rather than wait until the ceremony tonight. That event was when they would announce team names and leaders.

For now we were sent back to Beacon to wait for tonight, and to get some food.

The dining hall was far from packed, initiates only at this point, and not everyone had completed the test yet.

The four of us were in good spirits. Arthur had his default smirk, Harriet was practically bouncing up and down, and Daniela was happy (and somewhat smug) about being right about the method of team selection, and was happily babbling away about potential team strategies already.

Then Art interrupted. "Okay, don't get me wrong, you've got some good ideas, but why are you acting like you're already team leader?"

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"...Okay fine she's probably-"

I raised my eyebrow further.

"...okay _definitely_ going to be picked as leader. New argument, we have plenty of time for ideas and testing over the next four years. Dani, how about you relax and enjoy the moment? Right Sam?

I smiled. "Fair enough."

Daniela was silent for a moment. Then she smiled. "I guess."

Art smiled. "Right. You agree, Sam agrees, and you agree too right Harri?"

Silence.

"Harri?"

We all looked at where she had been sitting. She wasn't there.

I may not have known Harriet long, but my impressions thus far meant that the idea of her running around unsupervised shortly after being seen in an excited state filled me with a vague sense of dread.

"That was fucking awesome!"

The feeling intensified when we heard her shout.

Daniela was the first of us to speak. "...If I look in her direction will I see Harriet talking to the group that took down the Nevermore?"

I looked. "…Yep."

Daniela nodded, and then scrambled out of her seat and hurried off.

_'__This could be…'interesting'_.' "…Well, I guess the day's excitement isn't quite done yet."

…

"Art?"

I turned. He was gone.

I sighed and turned my eyes up. "They say you love us all equally…but you don't do ya. I'm on to you."

I got up and hurried over, hoping like hell that this wouldn't become one of those moments later described as 'hilarity ensued'.

As I came closer I could hear Harriet continue. "-dragged a Nevermore _up the cliff_ and fucking _decapitated_ it."

"I'm _really_ sorry about her." And Daniela apologising for her partner.

The general reaction among team RWBY (and team JNPR as they were at the same table) was…I believe nonplussed is the term.

It was around then that Art arrived. "In all fairness a decapitated Nevermore during _initiation_ is pretty impressive. He then gave an exaggerated bow. "Felicitations beautiful ladies, Arthur Wallen at your service."

"Dial it down Casanova." I said as I walked up.

"Casa-what?"

_'__Right, Earth reference.'_ "Never mind."

After three complete strangers introducing themselves rapid-fire, there seemed to be some relief seeing a familiar face. Ruby greeted me. "Hey Sam."

"Ruby, Yang, Jaune." I nodded to each of them. "I see the team has been busy introducing themselves."

"Only one of them actually gave their name." Yang said in a dry tone.

"Well, Arthur introduced himself, drama king that he is."

"I reiterate, at your service." He bowed again.

"_I_ reiterate, dial it down. Over here is Daniela, who I'm pretty certain will be named team leader."

Daniela smiled and seemed to stand a bit straighter. "Hi."

"And finally there's Harriet…she bit off a Beowolfs ear…that about sums up everything I know about her thus far."

Harriet grinned. I think everyone was a bit unnerved that there were still a few hairs caught in her teeth.

From there the introductions continued. After they were done I continued.

"We caught the end of your fight with the Nevermore. We came out of the trees just in time to see you drag it up the cliff and cut its head off. I have to agree with the general opinion, it was pretty impressive."

Ruby seemed embarrassed at the praise, Yang grinned, Weiss sat a bit straighter with a sure smile, and Blake just smiled.

Daniela spoke up. "I've been wondering though, what happened to the Deathstalker? We saw its tracks but there wasn't any further sign of it."

"We killed it with its own stinger and it fell into the canyon." That was Nora.

Harriet grinned. "Sweeeet."

"I have a question of my own." Art said. "How the hell did you guys manage to piss off a Deathstalker _and_ a Nevermore so much? I mean, the Deathstalker I kind of get following you, but the Nevermore would have had its view blocked by the trees for most of the chase. What did you do to piss it off so much that it kept…" He trailed off. Then his eyes widened and he pointed at Weiss and Ruby. "Wait a minute, you two are the ones we saw riding the Nevermore!"

That got everyone's attention.

"What?" Harriet asked.

"We saw them through the scope on Sams' rifle." He turned back to them. "Why the hell were you riding a Nevermore?!"

Ruby sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "We were lost."

_Everyone_ looked at her.

Art broke the silence. "…So…you decided to use a _Nevermore_, a giant flying monster, to get a better vantage point."

"Didn't you check for landmarks during the initial launch?" Daniela asked.

"…Dani, we were fired through the air like artillery shells. I think we were more focused on landing in a way that didn't involve the word 'splat'." I deadpanned.

Art shrugged. "We got a better view by climbing trees."

I raised an eyebrow. "What the hell do you mean 'we', _I_ was doing the climbing."

"And I encouraged you, it was a team effort."

####

Things shifted into a more general telling of their fight and ours. The next notable moment started with Daniela talking to Ruby about her weapon.

"I don't think I've seen a weapon like that scythe before. How did you learn to use something like that?"

"My uncle Qrow taught me."

I couldn't resist. "Let me guess. Tall, likes black, thin to the point that people joke about him being 'skeletal'."

Ruby looked at me and blinked in confusion. "Have you met him?"

My jaw dropped and eyes practically bulged out of my head. "…No…That was a complete guess."

_'__Holy shit. Little Red riding Hood _was_ trained by the Grim Reaper.'_

_'…__Or perhaps I should say '_Grimm_ Reaper'.'_

I shook my head. "Subject change, how about…" _'What the hell. Might as well have a bit of fun.'_ "…Team leaders. We're pretty certain Dani here will get the job for ours. She came up with a battle plan, and she's already putting together strategies. Any thoughts on who'll get the job for yours?"

####

That night during the ceremony, the four of us were officially named team DASH with Daniela as team leader.

Teams RWBY and JNPR turned out the same. And because of the discussion, since Ruby and Jaune were named team leaders I was 40 Lien richer.

* * *

**Up next is the first day. I've had material planned for this for a long time and I'm looking forward to writing it.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone. This chapter came later than intended due to assignments, exams, and constant rewriting.**

**I hope it came out okay.**

**To start off with answering some questions from AKS-784 and New here. One of them has a long answer so please bear with me.**

**First off. Glad you're enjoying the story.**

**In regards to your questions:**

**New here:**

**1: Pairings:**

**I'm not 100% on exactly where I'm going with that. But at this point I'm leaning towards OC/Blake. Partly because it would be somewhat complicated, and thus interesting to write. Also it means an easier reason for him to be looking near the docks during the events of 'Black and White', so there's the story aspect as well. If I do go with this though, it would be a slow build-up.**

**2: Possible tension regarding S.D.C and White Fang:**

**Currently Sam is of the opinion that the whole S.D.C vs White Fang thing has become messed up beyond belief and he is sick of hearing about it. This may come up later.**

**3: Timeline:**

**Sam went to Remnant before Volume 2 came out. He has no idea what to expect after the docks. However, due to the fact that he has been in Remnant for about a year he has picked up on some of the general knowledge of world. Tis means he can know at least some of the things from the 'World of Remnant' parts**

**AKS-784:**

**I suppose that Sam would be capable of ricochet shot theoretically. It's just that I can't think of many situations he would use them outside of a few very specific scenarios. It order for a successful ricochet shot he would need to be in the right place, his target would need to be in the right place, and the surface the ricochet would come off would need to be in the right place. Furthermore the surface would need to be of a suitably hard material, too soft and the bullet just goes through. Also if the angle is too acute then the bullet would be outright stopped by the surface rather that ricochet.**

**So while ricochet shots are theoretically possible, the number of situations where it would be useful seems limited.**

**Besides, it didn't really seem necessary given what Sam should be capable of down the road.**

**The original inspiration for this semblance came from an article I read called 'The 5 Most Impossible Sniper Shots Ever Made'. Specifically numbers 2 and 5 (3 and 4 were somewhat situational and number 1 involved three snipers). Number 2 involved shooting a gun out of someone's hand, there was video. But what really impressed me was number 5, to summarise a sniper needs to hit a target at the extreme end of his range and there's a breeze that could push the bullet off target, so in order to hit he calculated that he would need to aim '56 feet to the left and 38 feet high'. He took the shot, the bullet curved and hit his target in the chest.**

**With his semblance Sam would be able to pull off a shot like that, and then do it again, and again. Currently the main limiting factors in this are the time it takes to line up the shot, and some difficulty with judging moving targets. But as he gets better those factors will diminish.**

**Eventually (and this is a _big_ eventually) Sam could be capable of five quick shots against five different targets and get headshots on all of them, from a significant distance, in a storm.**

**Furthermore there are other aspects of Sams power that will be explored later.**

**With all that ricochet shots seemed like overkill. Especially since the using ricochet shot would require specific setups, while he would be capable of some awesome shots without them.**

**Okay. On with the chapter.**

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Ruby or anything else I may reference. I have some claim to my OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

I have to admit, whatever nervousness or apprehension I felt about coming to Beacon, now that I was here the primary feeling was excitement. The first day was coming, and the night before I had gone to sleep in the belief that whatever happened the next morning it wouldn't be as crazy for us as it would be for team RWBY.

Dear god was I wrong.

*FWEEEET*

"Holy mother of god!"

"GAAAH!"

"What the fuck?!"

Arthur and Harriet gave their opinions as well.

I looked around blearily.

"Rise and shine everyone!"

It was Daniela.

"Dani?...Why did you wake us up with a whistle at…" I looked to check the time.

Harriet beat me to it. "FIVE-THIRTY AM?!"

Daniela smiled. "Exercise."

"Huh?"

"I figured it would be a good idea to set up an exercise program. So we're getting up early and starting with a run."

"Are you kidding?!" Arthur was not enthused.

"Isn't part of our goals here to increase our physical abilities?"

_'__She's not exactly wrong.'_ "Well, yes but-"

"So an exercise program is a good idea?"

_'__Not the issue.'_ "I suppose but that's not the-"

"Great! Get changed, and remember to stretch before we start."

She blew the whistle again.

We could have continued to protest. But we were only just waking up and still tired, so we went along with it in the vague hope that if we did she'd stop blowing the whistle.

She did not.

* * *

"Come on guys! Two more laps!"

We were outside, in the school grounds.

"Left, Left, Left Right Left"

"You've wanted to say that for a while haven't you?" Harriet growled.

"Maybe."

Daniela seemed happy.

The rest of us? Not so much.

To be clear, exercising and training is always going to be a good idea. The fact that she thought so much on it already is just further proof that Daniela was the best choice for leader.

The problem is that she blasted a whistle in our ears at half-past five in the morning to start on an exercise plan _that she hadn't consulted us on beforehand_.

I feel certain that had she done so the rest of us would have agreed and we would have come up with a schedule. Hell it's not even the early time (although we probably wouldn't have agreed to starting _this_ early). But the fact that she's done this without mentioning it to us beforehand has left a rather…disgruntled feeling in the air.

Which Daniela seems completely oblivious to.

Quite frankly, the only reason we were still going along with this was that other students (and maybe a professor or two) had seen us from windows or were up early as well. Having gone along with the run this long only to break down into an argument now, _barely_ into our first day, would make us feel like a bunch of prats.

So we continued.

There's not much to be said about the rest of the morning. We got breakfast, got changed into the uniforms, and went to class.

Daniela seemed to remain unaware of the increasingly mutinous feeling, but some subconscious survival instinct must have told her what Harriet was likely to do with the whistle if she blew it again.

* * *

Grimm studies. An important subject for any aspiring hunter.

To learn of the ins and outs of this worlds' greatest danger and how best to counter them.

That's no small matter either. I've seen Beowolves and Ursa, and caught a glimpse of a Nevermore. But there are other types of Grimm out there that are even more dangerous.

I did some reading about these other types and I swear I came across a species that looked a lot like velociraptors.

…I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep for a while after that.

The point is Grimm Studies is important. This is just as important as combat training and should be treated as such.

"Monsters. Deemons. Prowlers of the night. Yes the creatures of Grimm have many names. But _I_ merely refer to them as prey. Ha haaaa!"

…I hope.

"Uhhhh. And you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world."

Honestly I don't know why he's telling us this. It's not unusual to hear of a village that vanishes overnight. We all know that the world's dangerous, that's why we're here.

"But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man. Me."

Annnnd here we go, he's launching into a story about himself. I hope he doesn't always tell these stories. He has to actually give lectures sometime right?

I looked at my teammates. Harriet and Arthur look like they're fighting to stay awake. Daniela looks confused, her pencil hovering over her paper, waiting for the important part of class to begin so she can take notes.

I have to say though, despite being somewhat…'puffed up' I have to respect Port. Not just because he's a professor, but because he's from outside the kingdom himself. According to his own story he came from a village outside the kingdom. And given that out there the term 'without a trace' can carry the implied addition of 'except gnawed bones', you have to be tough to survive out there.

"The moral of this story? A true huntsman must be honourable!"

_'…__Define honour.'_

"A true huntsman must be dependable!"

_'__I'll do everything I can.'_

"A true huntsman must be strategic-"

_'__A work in progress.'_

"-well educated-"

_'__That's why we're here'_

"-and wise!"

_'…__Uhhhhhhh.'_

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

"I do sir!" I don't think there was even a full second between Port finishing his speech and Weiss speaking up.

It was probably my imagination, but I'd swear I heard a crack as her raising hand broke the sound barrier.

"Well then, let's find out. Step forward and face your opponent." Port gestured to the cage beside him.

The Grimm inside was angry.

I blinked. "How long has that cage been there? The Grimm inside is growling so we should have noticed it earlier right?" I whispered to the others.

I got three confused shrugs.

Weiss left to get her equipment. The rest of the class was left to talk quietly amongst themselves while we waited.

"What do you think Sam?" Daniela whispered.

"Huh?"

"You mentioned you've done some research on the Grimm."

"Yeah…But I'd hardly call it extensive. I know a bit about some, mostly the basics, but for others I mostly skimmed."

"Okay. But do you know anything about this Grimm?"

I looked at the cage. The bars don't obscure everything. If I remember correctly then this Grimm is a Boarbatusk, I've read up a bit on it. I don't recall the details of the fight, but it shouldn't be a problem.

"Looks like a Boarbatusk. Fairly armoured, has a rolling charge attack. Nasty thing, but it shouldn't be a major problem. For example, when it's doing that rolling charge it probably can't turn very well, should be easy enough to dodge. Its hide is tough, but it's weaker on the belly. I think it may also be weaker around where the bone plates on its back meet the hide. I normally wouldn't give this much thought but one could, hypothetically, slip blade in the crack. Beyond that the throat is a basic target and then there's the most basic, 'when in doubt go for the eyes'.

Weiss has her rapier, which comes to a fine point, so she should be able to give out some precise stabs, and slashing around the throat or eyes would work. And that's not even getting into her Glyphs."

"This is assuming that she makes all the most logical choices immediately." Art said.

"Fair enough, but it still shouldn't be a big problem."

From there we lapsed into silence until Weiss came back. Everyone was interested in seeing this fight and the whole class went silent. Well, except the rest of team RWBY.

Things started off simple. The Boarbatusk charged, Weiss dodged to the side and slashed at it. Simple attack of opportunity doubling as a probing strike, but between the plates and the armour it wasn't effective.

Then Weiss lunged forward. As it happened I remembered that this is how it happened in the show, but seeing it now I noticed a serious flaw in this.

I can see vectors and trajectory, but normally this is more difficult in regards to living creatures because of all the moving parts involved. But that lunging stab Weiss uses is actually fairly easy to predict. It was shown in the Emerald Forest that stopping was difficult, and I could only assume that turning was right out.

If her opponent was stunned or distracted then it would be a very damaging attack. But against an opponent that can see her coming it would carry the danger of a counter-attack.

That the Boarbatusk was able to disarm her just proves the point.

The end of the fight was fairly impressive. Using one glyph to stun the Boarbatusk, and then using another to launch forward and kill it. All in all more exciting than I thought, but ultimately quick.

Oh and there was the whole 'Stop telling me what to do' incident, but that's not really my concern when I know they can work it out themselves, and anyway DASH has its own problems for me to worry about right now.

As we left the class I had one further thought about the fight. _'She may outclass most of us. But she still has things to learn, just like the rest of us. All of us.'_

It was oddly comforting.

* * *

With class over the four of us strolled through the halls silently.

Arthur, Harriet and I needed to talk to Daniela. Soon.

Harriet broke the silence. "What now?"

"We should unpack and sort through our things." Daniela said.

That works out well.

When we got back Daniela got started. The rest of us stood awkwardly trying to arrange our thoughts.

Arthur started. "Dani, we need to talk."

She looked up from where she was sorting her things. "Okay, what about?"

"It's about you leadership style. It's…uh…"

"Like you're a drill sergeant." Harriet took over. "A friendly drill sergeant, but still a drill sergeant. But a drill sergeant only handles the training, then the trainees are handed off and the leading is done by someone else, so it doesn't matter if the trainees _want to take their whistle and sh_-"

"Okay!" Arthur quickly interrupted.

Daniela flinched before Arthur could cut Harriet off.

I guess it's my turn. "Okay." I took a moment to arrange my thoughts. "Dani, you are very smart, and you have some great ideas. But I think there are a few details to work out still. The most pressing one being that if you have a plan, then it would probably help if you ran it by the rest of us _before_ you put it into action. If we're going to get an early morning alarm call we'd really appreciate it if we had sufficient warning. From the night before _at least_."

"I mean it's…it's…" I trailed off.

It would have been easier if Daniela started arguing. Instead she just seemed to shrink in on herself.

"Uh…well…"

"Sorry." She said in a small voice.

There was silence for a few moments. The three of us started to feel pretty bad.

"Uh…" Arthur broke the silence. "Dani, we know you're just trying to be a good leader, and you will be, but you just need to talk with us more.

Harriet went next. "Yeah, we need to be more like friends than just teammates. So just treat us like you normally do for friends."

Daniela raised her head. Her sad expression told us that last sentence contained a major assumption that was incorrect.

"Um…I never really had friends, not for long anyway. My family…wasn't really popular."

That made us feel worse.

Any mutinous feeling was gone now.

"I guess this has been a learning experience for all of us." Art broke the silence again. "Let's just forget about this and move on. Let's start again."

"Just remember to talk to us about your ideas." I smiled. "Democracy, you can't beat it."

"Right, you're our leader but if we're going to work as a team we'll have to be friends more than teammates." Harriet said.

"Okay." Daniela had a small smile now.

The mood was definitely lightening up.

"I guess I got caught up in my ideas. Sorry." Daniela said.

"Well you seem to have some good ones." I said. "Once we really get a system going we should do great."

There was silence, but it was much more comfortable now.

"So…we're really friends?" Daniela asked with a hopeful tone.

"Yeah." I said.

"And partners." Harriet said as she threw an arm around Danielas' shoulders.

Arthur apparently decided this was a good moment to start a group hug. He threw one arm around my shoulders and the other around Harriet and Daniela.

"Right. We're all friends, friends love each other."

…

_'…__Give him a break, he's just being nice, he won't have any idea what he just-'_

"Seriously Art? 'W.A.F.F.L.E-O'? Really?"

…

I slowly turned and stared at Harriet. "…Huh?"

"'We're all friends, friends love each other'. W.A.F.F.L.E-O."

I continued to stare blankly.

"It's an Achieve Men song."

"…Ah, the band…They made a song called 'W.A.F.F.L.E-O'?"

"Yeah. Don't listen to them?"

I shook my head. "Not really." At least not this worlds version. "Popular song?"

"Fairly."

I just nodded, my brain was still trying to catch up.

"Although if you're looking for a really good one, try 'Still in the Air'."

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing.

* * *

**I'm still not sure if I succeeded in what I intended for this chapter, but sooner or later I just have to put it out there.**

**One last thing.**

**I have a fairly serious question about my story.**

**Ever since episode 8, Field Trip, came out, I've been wondering about the names I've used thus far. I've used Arthur, Daniels and Harriet because they were the best I'd thought up at the time. But ever since Ozpins speech about why names have something to do with colour I've been second guessing this. I could think of a few reasons why a few people wouldn't have a colour name, but I'm not sure how well that would work. Also it suddenly seemed to be a missed opportunity to do a scene (in Volume one time) where everyone else is like, 'What's up with this guy's name?', and also think of how strange Sam is in other ways.**

**I've been considering looking up some new names, colour themed this time, and editing the previous chapters to have them. Although if that happens the team name will still be DASH because they can't _all_ be good building blocks for colour themed team names.**

**The question is:**

**Should I do it?**

**Until next time.**


End file.
